I can’t tell you how frustrating it is becoming to have people on a raw diet contact me for health advice, puzzled why they are still sick or not doing well. They tell me they are "raw," like that’s supposed to mean something.

As I’ve been revealing for years, eating a raw diet means nothing if you are going to overeat, eat at the wrong times and eat unhealthy food, even if it is "raw." So if are eating many green smoothies all day and continuing to eat throughout the night, if you are eating 25 bananas a day, or if most of your diet includes raw junk food like chocolate, dried fruit and raw recipes, stop being so puzzled.

The key to health from a diet standpoint, and from every standpoint, is consistent practice of temperance! The quality of your food is so important. Live, raw food is the highest quality, but you are wasting your time if you are not following the natural capabilities of your body to utilize that food correctly.

I am not knocking the raw food diet. I am knocking people who are being foolish about their approach. Of course you are going to feel better if last week you were eating McDonald's every day, and this week you are eating bananas all day, but it’s still overeating. In the long run, you will run into issues.

It’s foolishness that people believe chocolate is a health food. Chocolate has been deceptively marketed in the raw food community as a healthy super food. Misinformed people are led to believe that it is healthy and others use it to keep themselves stimulated. Be warned, if you keep fooling yourself, you will run into issues.

When I learned about health from Hippocrates Health Institute and other classic health writers, they preached fresh fruits and vegetables. They would laugh at the idea that anyone would suggest chocolate is a health food. It was and always will be a processed junk food.

Those in denial write to me saying that I don’t know the truth, and they are missing the point. Chocolate is a stimulant that is not healthy! That’s the bottom line. My information alone about chocolate isn’t going to save everyone, but at least a few wise people have listened and written me, telling me how much better they feel after they stopped consuming chocolate and believing it’s healthy.

Let’s get to the real issue: overeating! Eating too often and at the wrong times is not healthy. The body can handle a junk food like chocolate if eaten in very small amounts. The same goes for McDonald's and other junk foods. But in larger amounts, it can be deadly. The worse the food, the less the body can handle it. If you are consuming high-quality food, but eating too much, and at the wrong times, damage is still taking place. You just may not notice it right away. Stressing the body organs in any way adds to sickness and disease. I am not promoting McDonald's, but alerting people to the fact that overeating is the real issue we need to overcome!

I’ve learned the hard way. When I started a raw diet, I ate and ate and ate. I ate more durians than anyone I know, and I also overate on fruits and recipes, etc. Thanks to Dr. Fred Bisci and books by Arnold Ehret, I stopped overeating and now finally enjoy the health and energy that many people on a raw food diet lack.

Dr. Fred Bisci explains it well in his new book and DVD. If you are overeating, counting calories, counting percents of food raw, amounts of fat verse sugar, this all means nothing.

Some people ask me why I changed so much over the years. The answer is you must change as your chemistry changes. When I first started eating a raw food diet, I could eat raw recipes all day long. After several years of doing that, I didn’t feel as good when I first started eating raw. I had to eat fewer recipes. I began to combine my foods better and ate less. As I did, I felt better. Then for a period, I ate a lot of mono meals, fruits alone in large amounts. Again, at first I felt great, but after a few years, I didn’t feel good with so much food, even eating mono-meals. I finally realized overtime, as we cleanse, we need less food. I also learned the times we eat our meals have a big impact on our health. When it is dark outside, it’s not healthy to consume food.

I spent so much time talking to Dr. Bisci. I also studied many books on natural health and the best diet for man. Starting with the Bible, I looked back though history to see what diet was best and the wisest way to eat. My new book I’m now working on, “The No Dinner Diet,” will cover the common questions people have and all the info about it, In this newsletter, I wanted to bring attention to one of my health teachers heroes of the past that not too many people know about.

In the 1850's, physician and temperance reformer, Dr. Dio Lewis became a nationally known lecturer on health reform. He taught many of the same things as Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham Cracker, another great health teacher, but he added the reform of eating only two meals a day.

To sum up his book written in 1870 “Talks About People's Stomachs,” here are the two main points Dr. Lewis makes in his book about how much to eat and when meals should be eaten. When reading the first answer, keep in mind that back in the 1800’s, when the book was written, dinner was commonly served as a noon-time meal. What we today would call lunch, or our second meal of the day.

How much shall I eat?
You must answer it for yourself. But I had read with earnest interest the advice of the celebrated Dr. Johnson on this point, which is, that every one must observe after dinner, and if he find from his sensations that he has eaten too much, he mustn't do it again.

All these opinions and teachings were interesting and helpful, but they didn't help me much just where I most needed help. I knew very well that, as a habit, I ate too much, the only rule which has ever served me is this: on sitting down at the table, take upon the plate all that you are to eat, and when that is finished, quit.

Is it better to eat at noon, and go to work on a full stomach, or to wait till the day's work is done, and then do the eating?

My advice to all is this; eat but two meals a day, and take the last one in the middle of the day. Digestion requires a certain amount of vital force. Early in the day there is enough to spare, after the brain and muscles are provided for. In the middle of the day, while the forces of physical nature are still high and strong, there is enough left to work, and, in addition, digest a good meal. But as night comes on, and the arms of nature are folded, and the man's vital stock is run out, there is nothing left to digest.

When the hard day's work is done, it is not the right time to fill the stomach with hearty food. The stomach is as tired as other parts of the body, and should be allowed, with the residue of the body to rest, and not be put at six hours of hard work. With this management, the workingman's muscles and back will remain young much longer, while his brain and vision will be clearer and brighter.

One very interesting note, there was a very popular figure in American history who was encouraged by Dr. Dio Lewis’s writings. Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887) was an American individualist anarchist, entrepreneur, political philosopher, abolitionist, supporter of the labor movement, and legal theorist of the 19th century. He is also known for competing with the U.S. Post Office with his American Letter Mail Company, which was forced out of business by the United States government. As it turns out, Dr. Lewis was a friend of Lysander Spooner, and Spooner features in Lewis' book, "Talks about People's Stomachs" (1870) that I just summed up in the last few paragraphs.

In the book, it says that Lysander Spooner, until the age 50, ate three meals a day, then for nine years, two meals, and for three years, one meal a day. Mr. Spooner has suffered a great deal from stomach troubles during his life until the adoption of the one meal system. With one meal a day, he became bright and cheerful as a boy, and had skin like a baby's. Dr. Lewis said in his book he did not know another man of Lysander Spooner’s age so youthful in spirit.

Spooner’s success at a one-meal-a-day system built his confidence to believe that if workers of all classes would rise early from an eight hours' sleep and digestion, they would be ready for a day's work without further eating until the evening.

Spooner and others performed this one meal a day in the evening with great success during the 1800’s health movement. The key was not overeating. I have found eating no more then one or two meals a day, and only when it is light outside, to work best.

There is no worry about where you will get your nourishment or calories because as the body becomes cleaner, and the quality of the food improves, must less calories are needed. A toxic person eating very little can actually starve themselves if trying to eat little while in the cleansing process. But once the cleansing period is over, people can do great with very little food. Many people today who count calories or eat a lot of meals throughout the day do not understand how this can be, but history proves it and science agrees with it; it’s better to eat less than to eat too much.

I do not expect or suggest people go from eating 5 or 10 times a day to only two times a day over night. The transition should take time, but it should take place. Start understanding this important health message today and devise a plan to help you get started. You’ll be glad you did, and so will your stomach.

>> When the hard day's work is done, it is not the right time to fill the stomach with hearty food. The stomach is as tired as other parts of the body, and should be allowed, with the residue of the body to rest, and not be put at six hours of hard work. With this management, the workingman's muscles and back will remain young much longer, while his brain and vision will be clearer and brighter.


What about folks who push water or juice throughout the day and have the one meal towards the end of the day? I don't see why the stomach would be tired. seems like that is when real 'requirement' for food..and digestive fire would be highest? Seems like if I was doing physical work all day (which I often do) I wouldn't want to use up energy digesting anything very dense or complicated (or anything at all)

[www.giveittomeraw.com]

A simple Pubmed search reveals many studies indicating the heart healthy benefits of consuming moderate amounts of dark chocolate.

Well, no, of course, over-eating is unwise on any diet.

But you say:

As I’ve been revealing for years, eating a raw diet means nothing if you are going to overeat, eat at the wrong times and eat unhealthy food, even if it is "raw."

I don't agree. The raw diet certainly does mean something, in that if we have two people who are overeating and 'eating at the wrong times' and one is raw, and one is SAD, the one who is raw is likely to be a little healthier in the long-term. And, even if the raw fooder is having a little cacao occasionally, he's still likely to do better than the SAD eater (meat, pasteurised dairy, alcohol etc.).

I believe the Raw Diet IS the answer - at least 'food-wise'. Within that we can of course, over time, move towards the simple raw food diet, which, sure is going to be (even) better than the rawgourmet.

Paul said, "I can’t tell you how frustrating it is becoming to have people on a raw diet contact me for health advice, puzzled why they are still sick or not doing well. They tell me they are "raw," like that’s supposed to mean something."

Wow. Why don't you tell them, nicely, that you are not available to give advice?

In this day and age of so many variables i don't believe it's possible to ascribe a certain diet that works for everyone based on ones own personal experience- unless you have tested the theory on 100's or 1000's of diffeent people. Then and only then can you have a one size fit's all. But to base your proof on your own personbal experience - which keeps shanging is not proof.

Many people don't do hard physical labor, many people don't have the capacity to digest large amounts of food at one or two sittings, etc.

Yeah, some people just want an excuse to gorge. It's understandable. Food tastes good & when you're lonely & isolated from your raw diet regime you need to fill the void.

I agree re overeating, good food or wrong food. I've found that in the beginning I did the same, but when I realised I wasn't going to shrivel up and die, I began to reduce the amount. So psychology has something to do with it as well a a cleaner more efficient system eh!

Again, so called 'organic' chocolate is a substitute for all those snacks we used to indulge. I eat some carob recently for a treat, and I was sick the next day, so no more chocy for me. Smoothies sound tasty, but aren't they a meal in themselves???

I really believe psychological factors are the main barriers to overcome when changing diet. Modern food science is based on certain premises and assuptions such as the assumption that the heat processes involved in evaluating the nutrient values of foods has no substantial effect; hence, the whole house of cards may have a weak foundation.

Cheers geo

So the answers will be in your book?

Please.....

The people here I think are smart enough to figure out not to over eat.

I was reading the article and the thought struck me that animals that are planteaters, eat throughout the day, but carnivores gorge after a kill, so eating one meal a day mimics carnivores rather than herbivores.

However, I could fathom eating throughout the day but eating one meal that had the heavy concentrated stuff and having the rest be light meals. From my reading the heavy meal is supposed to be eaten when the sun is high in the sky - most of the world has the big meal at noonish and possibly a siesta afterwards too. I read somewhere (can't find the link) that the UV rays trigger something in the body that makes noonish the right time for eating the concentrated protein meal of the day. This heavy meal when the sun is high, works nicely with the fact that the UV rays are strongest at this point because then people are sleepy and would stay out of the sun during the worst times. This isn't as important in the modern world as it was centuries ago when most people worked outside.

Lillianswan

Quote

I could fathom eating throughout the day but eating one meal that had the heavy concentrated stuff and having the rest be light meals.

This is the way I eat. I have small mono meals throughout my day as I sense a slight return of hunger signal and then I have one last meal of the day. This meal is an evening meal and consists of a "heavy" (calories, fat, and protein) liquid VM blended meal using young coconut as the base. I find this grazing throughout the day and then a dinner KO's my appetite nicely and I coast the rest of my evening without another bite. When I go to bed I am not hungry but not far from it and it has been quite awhile since eating anything. I find that this allows for a good sleep and lots of energy during the day when I need it..

If you took many years to need less food, to stop eating raw recipes, to stop eating lots of fruit, etc.... than don't you think others may need time to?

Telling people what works for you now, when you have evolved, and chemically change to become where you are today is all fine and good. But you have to understand that other people may not be at the same place, chemically, physically, even dare I say emotionally.

Someone on a typical diet converting to raw, or vegan or even vegetarian is hard enough... let alone having all these rules thrown at them!! When I discovered raw it was through the beauty of a raw recipe book. If I hadn't thought it to be a diet of abundance I never would have given it a try... Since then I've dabbled in juice feasting, fasting, mono eating, 80-10-10, low fruit, you name it.... But in the beginning I never would have tried raw if I thought I'd be drinking green veggie juice everyday!! And I was a vegan!

In my opinion the less we preach and the less 'rules' we try and inflict on raw the better. We all came to raw from a different place, and most of us are on different stages in our own health journeys.

Sunflower
Raw Food Chef and Writer
Comfortably Raw
[www.comfortablyraw.com]